Flying the coup in retail

We all have technology that we love to use. Im no exception. Ive written recently about all my E-toys. Ive embraced technology,perhaps not to the max simply because I may not understand how to use all the bells and whistles but I do love some of the things is provides.

With a smart phone, we have access to tools and information that before this era, we’d need a trip to the library for or a bank of books heavy enough to collapse a shelf. Now all we have to do is load up an app or hit the search button.

Email can be a pain especially with all the junk mail we get ( delete delete delete) but its a nice way to get information to someone quickly.

I have noticed however a new phenomenon in electronic tendencies…ignore.

Maybe due to electronics overload, I dunno, but the availability of quick message/information transmission leads to an expectation of a quick return. As well it should be if a response is needed/required/requested.

It doesn’t always happen. This seems to be happening more in text as well. I text a lot so do a lot of my friends and coworkers. its a convenient way to converse in a busy world when picking up the phone isn’t the right thing to do at a particular time. My staff uses texts to converse with family instead of a personal phone call, which I try to keep to a minimum in the work place. A text is small unobtrusive and discrete. I also try to be responsive to receiving text. Its kinda like a conversation with a person who just happens to not be in the room. its not a letter mailed..its not an email that can be looked at later…..a text it the e-equivalent of a little tap on the shoulder ” I have something to ask you”. In other words , its a form of commutation that usually expects an answer in a relatively short amount of time.

2 days isn’t a short amount of time. Neither is “never”. I have a friend that I like ( or maybe used to) that texts only when he feels like it. I know that his life can be wonky and he took a new job recently. I sent him a text, then a 2nd and a 3rd asking for his new address when he moved so I could update may records. He has ignored it. So I have decided that if thats how he chooses to “unfriend” me then fine. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes some smart ass comment about being busy 3 weeks from now

Nobody is that busy to have no time to type a 2 second response on a smart phone that you carry with you 24-7.

I also have sent Facebook messages to friends occasionally asking them something, to which I get the same reply. the only difference is that Facebook actually can tell you it was “seen”. THEN to have it ignored really constitutes the “new rude”.

I am curious as to the opinions of others about being e-ignored on a medium really designed for a faster response. Now I don’t mean to imply that we have to pull off to the side of the road to text immediately or text while driving or in the middle of the night and sleep with our phones, but I would wonder if anyone else experiences this kind of “new rude”.

Monday is the No.1 busiest day of the week. Mondays before a holiday trump any other monday of the year. They are chaotic as everybody wants to cram a lot of stuff into a shorter work week. I am sure the doctors offices are no different. It was pretty much run run run from 2 hours before we opened to close that night. As I was operating on fumes half way thru the day we still had close to about 60 unfilled prescriptions in a pile, most of which were printed e-scripts. Labels were made at least, but none of them had been counted yet. Its daunting looking at that pile when we had a full compliment of staff but the scripts were pouring in faster than we could even empty them from the queue.

Its always my feeling that its best to get the computer work done ASAP so we can track the rx. if its still in the queue, its hard to find. Mr Crabby pants came to the counter in the midst of this mess and wanted a rx that had been scripted in by his doctor about an hour before. Normally we’d have had that done likely but not this day. He approached the counter and my tech told him that the script was printed but not assembled yet. He was getting huffy with my tech so I came over still holding a stack of about 60 labels. ” You know theres nothing worse than driving all the way over here and finding out that my stuff isn’t ready!” Well I am certainly sorry for your inconvenience but ( holding the stack of scripts) all of these have come in ahead of yours, so Ill get it ready as soon as I can, Just hang tight.

After he stepped away, I pondered his ludicrous statement out loud “There is NOTHING worse than having to wait 10 more minutes”….. ” yea, nothing worse…abject poverty, having your child murdered, having a terminal painful disease, being a quadriplegic…nothing worse indeed…

I think we all could use a little perspective adjustment now and then and if I signed my own paycheck Id have been happy…no ecstatic to give Mr Crabby pants such an adjustment. That there is indeed worse things in this world than not having something exactly the way you want it. WE use that term way too much.

Heard on the radio for carpet cleaning ” there is nothing worse than having company over and your carpets are dirty”

Heard on TV “there is nothing worse than finding yourself without a mate” ( a computer dating service)

Heard on a radio show ” There is nothing worse than going to a restaurant and not finding anything you want on the menu”

You know what? I wish i was those people because if those things are the worst things they have ever experienced then I want to be THEM.

There are a lot of worse things in this world than anything we experience in our daily lives unless you have been the unfortunate soul to have endured the worst that life has to offer. To you I offer my condolences. To the rest of us< Lets suck it up and be grateful that if all we have to complain about is dirty carpets, being without a date, and having to wait a little longer for something, we are in very good shape. Give thanks.

Technology…we all love technology. For the most part technology has made our lives run smoother. It can also be said that it can complicate things to an infinite degree. I love my tech toys. I have MacBooks, iPad, iPhone iPod, Kindles, bluetooths,SmartTV, etc etc etc. You name it, the Chick house probably has it..(or soon will).

To that end, to own that technology means to understand it and use it properly. For a lot of people they simply cannot use it properly…or they think that it will replace one technological miracle…their brain.

May I say to you that tech toys and apps will not replace your brain…Its trying to however… I no longer know phone numbers, save my own. My personal device has them all. If I don’t remember a stat or some morsel of information all I have to do is ask Siri. WIKI knows everything about everything now,

We recently introduced a few tech advances in the pharmacy for our patients. Some time ago we initiated reminder phone calls for patients to pick up their finished prescription. More recently we initiated a text program to assist patients with their refills. Its pretty easy. Patients get a notification that a refill is due. answer yes or no if they want the refill. After its finished they get a text saying its ready. Easy.

One might think…. Because a lot of our public has apparently retired their brain when they signed up for technology, people have failed to even use THIS rather simple technology properly. they don’t read the message.. They don’t answer YES to refill it. they simply show up to pick up a rx they didnt actually order.

” I got a text”. hmmm I can’t find anything for this person. “may I ask what the text said?” “I have a prescription ready”. ( look around for rx in progress or returns to stock…nothing) “Do you still have the text? and if so may I see it?” ” alert : Rx due to be filled, answer yes to refill and answer no to cancel. ” I see its a reminder to see if you are ready for a rx Did you respond to the text?” (I already know the answer) “Uh no, I didn’t read the text”. (Heavy sigh….)

Technology isn’t your babysitter. It wont make ME your babysitter either. It won’t replace your personal responsibility . It won’t make you take your meds,and it has no affinity for your wellbeing. They are just a bunch of codes to transmit information. Some of which is normal, some of which is a waste of time. Ill never understand why people get so huffy about their failure to use technology correctly. I can’t spoon feed them.

Tech is merely a tool. A tool to help you. If you ever get to the point were technology replaces the need for your brain to be involved, God help us all.

I suppose some years rack up as better than some, but this year wasn’t the best for the Pharmacy Chick. As a whole I’m ready for 2016 to enter the record books and go away. I get asked via email if I have given up writing and the answer is no, but I can’t think of great things to write. But I thought id share just a bit of my personal side as to why I am stressed and distressed.

In January Mr Chick had a stomach ache, which I wrote about turned into emergency appendix removal. Having met his deductible in 2015 it was very untimely to start meeting 2016 deductible so early! He still was struggling with his back nearly a year after surgery 1.

Apri 1 brought the death of one of my dogs, 6 months after the death of my other dog. Missing them both and down to 2 dogs one of which has outlived all the others so far. she lives on borrowed time I know.

June we had some more tests on Mr Chicks Back and tried the equivalent of Snake Oil, some stem cell injections, none of which was covered under insurance. $4k good bye and it didn’t work. $11k in out of pocket expenses so far…

We started process for 2nd surgery.

Sept was the 2nd surgery, successful by surgery standards but 2 months later same symptoms persist. Doc says nerve damage could take yet another year to heal. More waiting.

The back brace he work for 5 weeks aggravated the inguinal hernia he has had for many years. He has to have a hernia repair done before years end. More time off work. More Bills. At least deductible is paid. Fix all you can before years end.

Add that to the 3 skin cancers he had taken off his face last week, that is 5 procedures he has had/or will have before the expiration of this year. He has missed 10 weeks of work so far ( thank you FMLA and sick pay) and we still have to manage the hernia surgery.

I had an abnormal mammogram and had a second which was inconclusive so we are gonna check again in 6 months. I care less about me than Mr Chick, so that is a 6 month wait I don’t care about.

One car had a head light out in October.. ” replace the bulb” I asked. apparently newer model cars don’t ” replace bulbs” $1300 dollars later….yes you apparently replace ” assemblies” when you need a new head light bulb. God help you if you have a LED..those I am told are $3k. There are advantages to having an old beater. you can actually replace parts and not entire assemblies!

2 days later I got a broken crown. Temp crown and $1100 OOP later I am better, but my company has really crappy dental insurance I have discovered. Insurance is great…when you don’t use it. LOL I am grateful that I do have money in the bank to pay for this kind of financial stress. But bleeding cash isn’t a lot of fun, and we have bled a lot of it so far.

Work has been stressful with the retirement of my immediate superior and the take over by a person I cannot seem to communicate with. He is from a culture that doesn’t speak ” my language” and I don’t mean English. He sounds like a robot. We had over 2300 flu shots to process in a 6 week period in a time where a tech I had a lot of problems with finally left, and we were 1 full time person short. I have been coming into work at 530 am working to 9 pm some nights to keep the work load from burying me. I praise the end of October and the downward slide of flu shots. Still havent replaced missing tech and most days the office has no staff to cover.

The company I work for has started a major shift in policies and procedures and nearly every day something new has come down the pipe requiring a change in how i do things. Questions are not allowed and explanations are not forthcoming. WE get random auditors showing up every 4-6 weeks for hours at a time. Tell me thats not stressful.

Pharmacy Chick has started at least a dozen posts in recent days and most of them have fallen by the wayside for lack of interest or a decent conclusion. I want to write well, on subjects that matter enough to me to share. I’ve received email from readers wondering if I have quit or moved on, and no, Ive done neither but I have seemed to have covered most of the subjects that interest me and to rehash them constantly is kind of a waste of time.

I do have a presence on Facebook, not as Pharmacy Chick, but as the real me. Recently I made a post that garnished a lot of comments and interest and because it had a relationship to work, I decided that indeed, I have a subject worth writing about.

It started Saturday afternoon. My tech went to lunch ( a mandatory function within our company…you cannot NOT take a lunch when you are a tech). All was well until a certain time when it seemed all of Chickville descended on the pharmacy. 2 phones were ringing and at both windows (drop off and pick up) I had at least 2 people in line. Thats about 6+ individuals that wanted my attention. I was working thru one end of the windows when this Neanderthal of a man, with a teenage boy accompanying him, came up and spoke over everyone else ” Isn’t there anyone else around here? I want some help”. I said ” no, I am the only staff member here at the moment, Ill take care of you as soon as I can”. It would seem that it would be pretty obvious that I wasn’t sitting around reading magazines and ignoring the lines. but that wasn’t acceptable, he had to go on. “There are other people down here too and we are waiting”. His tone of voice was abusive and inflammatory. No shit sherlock, I’m not blind but I am also not able to be in two places at one time. ” Ill be there as soon as I can, I have to finish here”. Bearing witness to all of this was our store manager who asked if he could help me so I had him help a nice lady find something on an aisle. Finishing up I went down to the drop off and took care of a clearly embarrassed-f0r-me lady who dropped off her rx and said ” ill be back later and I promise I won’t yell at you”. Neanderthal wasn’t to be found anymore.

Later my manager said ” you can call me anytime you need some extra help”. He is a peach of a guy, someone with a heart of gold and I’d take a bullet for. I said ” thanks Rick, I got this, I just don’t need or appreciate being yelled at by jerks”. And my boss said “Well we never know their circumstances”….

I thought about that for a while and I burned…not for pity but for resentment because that statement right there has taken our country from one of politeness and appropriate behavior to one of rudeness, violence, get-what-you-want-at-all-costs, take no prisoners. I refused to accept that and I respectfully disagree with my boss.

Later that night I made a generic post about the incident explaining that circumstances are no excuse for rudeness and inappropriate behavior in social settings. We need to exhibit self control, and mind our manners regardless of the crap we have in our lives. if we can’t, we are showing others that we are petulant toddlers instead of civilized humans.

I got a lot of comments, mostly positive and in agreement. One commenter was a mother of a special needs person who for the most part agreed, but said ” I am occasionally rude and I am not sorry for that because I have a special needs child”.

Sorry, my friend, that is utter CRAP. Let me expound on this

EVERYBODY has circumstances. Nobody is exempt. You may have a special needs child. The lady next you may have an abusive husband. The man at the counter may have just lost his job. The lady standing next to you in line may have lost her son to a heroin addiction, and the guy next to you in traffic just lost his wife to cancer , and the person waiting on you at the restaurant may have had a miscarriage 2 days ago… WHOSE circumstances trump anyone else’s?

NOBODY’S.. Everybody has crap in their lives we have to deal with. That is just a fact of life. If you are reading this and you can say ” I have no crap” consider yourself lucky, because someday you will. we all do. Life is tough.

That does not justify ruining someone else’s day because your day sucks. Why am I telling you this? Why does this matter? Because I have seen an increase in in appropriate behavior exploding over the last several years. If you work in a service industry or with the public you’ll agree… We see it on you tube, filmed by cell phone cameras. We see it captured on video surveillance in stores. Its disgusting frankly, so see people descend into behavior that is frankly, embarrassing to watch and probably worse to witness.

Circumstances are not an excuse for being rude to people you come in contact with.

Circumstances are not a justification for taking out your frustrations on others

Circumstances are not a reason for abusing other people, your own children or animals

Circumstances are just that…Circumstances. WE all have them. We all have our baggage that life has given us to carry. So the next time you want to lash out, pack it away. Be nice. Be polite, Be proper. Its not your right to be nasty, rude or inappropriate.

And if you are? Why don’t you man up and apologize.

And the the rest of the story? My tech came back and the first thing she said was ” Man, I sure feel sorry for Reba in the Deli, this guy was yelling at her about something wrong with his sandwich” I asked Did he have a teenage boy with him? ” why yes he did..”

In that grand old world out there, being a retail pharmacist is akin to being a punching bag in a white coat. That being said I also state that many professions are in the same boat. I speak for flight attendants, wait-staff, checkers, etc…and the common thread to all of us, is that we are cursed um… blessed to deal with the public on a daily basis.

It takes a lot of fortitude to spend one’s career dealing with the public. I don’t need to go into examples because most of my readers are either pharmacists or patients. If you are a patient and are still reading me after all these years I am going to assume that you are a good patient. If you aren’t then you have most likely decided you hate me and don’t read me anymore anyway…or read me only to throw caustic comments my way.

I am going to add another profession to the list of the abused: Golf professional. I say that because I have developed a special friendship with the head professional at the club that I am a member at. For that, he has let me into the life of a golf professional, an eye opening experience to say the least. Thankfully he doesn’t mind sharing what its like to be a professional all the way down to the cellular level in the day to day activities. I have developed a great appreciation of the work that he does but more so, what he has to put up with. Who’d have thought that in a place where one pursues a pleasure activity that there would be so much angst. Its not an easy job. He’s dealing with the “public” too, albeit they are referred to as ” members”. He has a tough skin but he takes a lot of the criticism personally.

A lot of us do that however… I can have accolades all day but if I get one person who berates me, It pretty much ruins my day. Same for my friend. He is a great human being, a gifted teacher, a compassionate individual, soft spoken yet eloquent. He “makes” time for everyone despite the fact that his weeks are often 60-70 hours. I don’t confess to work that many hours. I can’t do it anymore. When I am on shift I am performing at top speed for every moment. Its exhausting both physically but mostly mentally. Some days, as I approach that 13th hour on the clock, my brain is starting to break.

He breaks too. So I decided to be his encourager. Someone to be in his corner, when nobody else may be on any given day. Ive actually adopted the idea of being an encourager at work too, to offset the self loathing I suffer from. The fact is, I may do amazing things ( well not really) but inside I feel at a loss of importance and value. So I encourage others so that they don’t feel the same way I do. Nearly every day at work, I will make an effort to make a positive remark to dozens of people. Most of the time its a comment about what they are wearing ” boy you look great in blue”, ‘ Love that jacket!” I think people need to be uplifted to off set the rigors of the day that beat us up. I have an encourager too. He is a man that brings me a coke whenever he is in the store. He simply stops by, tells me Hello, and hands me a coke. Makes my day EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

For my professional, I want to walk into his office every day I play and greet him with the best smile ( and a COKE) he will see all day, not because I have to, but because I happen to LIKE HIM as a person and a valued friend. I want to elevate him to a place that will hopefully sustain him during the attacks on his psyche that will occur all day long. In return… well..thats the kicker I need no return!

Well, maybe I can hope for ONE return, a continuing friendship that blesses my life with this special person and his family. Over the 28 years that I have lived in my community, I have learned the value of a friend. I have no family in the city I live in. My nearest relative is 500 miles away…except Mr Chick of course. Making friends is hard for me. Making acquaintances is easy. I have a zillion of those, but FRIENDS..that takes effort…and time..and trust. Introverts don’t make friends easily, but they make excellent friends. We don’t require a lot of maintenance because its exhausting for the introvert to spend TOO Much time with him or her.

I wish I could do more. He has a personality type much like mine, self depreciating sense of humor ( its almost a contest who can self insult the most…). He is good for me tho, he is my gifted teacher and motivates me to keep trying when I really want to give up on the game I love so much but gives me great grief. I want to be better, I demand to get better. I will get better.

But mostly I want to love on him like he deserves. To show my friend ( which is better than family..family can be so mean to each other) that there are some people out there who knows he is awesome and amazing and doing a fantastic job doing what he loves to do, thru much effort and time and energy.

The newsiest news lately is bathrooms….and change rooms too if you want to lump them all together. Everybody is in a tither about bathrooms. Im just gonna make a short post about how I feel about the matter and let the comments decide for themselves how they feel.

In my workplace we have 2 Trans. Both are male that have identified themselves as female. One has made the outward transition to female by wearing ladies clothes etc. and the other, while taking meds to make the change, still outwardly seems to identify as a male by physical appearance, clothing etc.. Ive seen both frequently in the store. 1 uses the ladies room and the other still uses the mens.

I don’t care. There ya go. There are things about this overall situation, as a conservative Christian, that would be worthy of a theological discussion but this isn’t the post for it.

If you have to go to the bathroom, and you look and dress like a lady, then use the ladies room, or a family style room where you can lock yourself in privately and not worry about who might see you and be offended. I mean, whats gonna freak people out more? a person who appears to be a woman walking in to a women’s restroom? or a mans? I understand that mens rooms often don’t have “stalls” but perhaps its time for all bathrooms to have them. I dunno…

Lockerooms are a little dicey for me at this time. Thats when the gloves come off…and the shorts, and the bras and the makeup for all to see. I still feel that in THIS case, whats under your clothes might matter when thats what is about to be exposed in a public shower in a lockeroom.

Perhaps the future lies in construction…where buildings have bathrooms…just a line of single-holers with locked doors. no labels, no freaking out…but what is your opinion??

It used to be that if you wanted the best of something you didn’t have to look hard to find it. Often times it was “made in America” and other times it was the iconic name of a company that offered the best and you just knew that if you bought that product or service you would get the best…or nearly the best. ( I can’t always afford “the best”)

Recently I think that we as a nation, and possibly the world, has settled for mediocre in just about everything….or worse yet, settled for crap. Let me cite some recent examples.

Cell service. Cell phones, or “mobile devices” as they are referred to know have moved from luxury item to nearly necessity. We all pay a pretty penny for such services but who among us can say with any certainty that our service is awesome? Not me. I allegedly have the best provider in the US, and yet I still get dropped calls….texts that don’t send or receive…

similarly when I am at work I pretty much can tell immediately if a caller that is on the phone with ME is on a cell phone. The clarity sucks and often is so bad that I will tell the caller ” I cannot hear you ,please call back when you are in a place where your connection is better”. Is this our future? Is this progress as we know it? to have phone service reminiscent of the days of party lines and operators?

Internet. Between TV internet and phone, the Chick family pays a pretty penny..we like our technology, but almost once a week I have to “recycle” the modem upstairs because it seems to “forget” who it is. And according to comcast…aka Xfinity, this is perfectly normal and acceptable. I disagree. If I forgot who I was on a weekly basis, I’d probably be in assisted care with a dribble bib around my neck. I would certainly not be in a high profile pharmacy job. I also have satellite TV that occasionally needs the same kind of service…or we will record a show that will stop in mid viewing because the connection was lost. Can I deduct a certain amount from my bill because I didn’t get what I paid for? not likely…

clothes. I can’t list the amount of clothing that I have spend decent amounts of money on that after 1 washing barely resemble the item that went into the washer. I ve had articles of clothing that have buttons barely sewn on, hems that weren’t done properly, arms of different length, seems splitting, etc AND I buy clothes that are known for quality. I don’t shop for clothes at Target…I choose high end because I want to wear them for a long time. I find it disappointing that a high quality name such as Nike, Nordstrom, Columbia Sports, Adidas etc, make something that costs a great deal of money that ends up pilling, shrinking, pulling, fading and buttons falling off after only a few wearings. I recently bought a pair of pants from one of these listed above, ..they were the zip off shorts kind with new tech seams where they are glued on. I wasn’t all that sure about trying glued together seams but I thought I’d try it. Mistake. before the first washing the seams around the zipper were raising. I had to IRON the glue back into place or the whole “seam” would come off in short haste. Now I carefully look at each leg before I wear to see if I have to iron glue my seams back together.

My dryer. a couple of years ago my old washer dryer was fading fast. We went to Sears and bought a top of the line Whirlpool Cabriolet washer dryer combo. I spent as much on that pair as I did for a car when I was in college…maybe more so. And right out of the chute the dryer has a spot that grabs clothes by the lint catch..I emailed the company but got a pretty lame reply..” its been reported but very rare” and offered nothing in the form of a solution. So about once a week Ill pull something out from the dryer and its attached to that spot and has been spun into a twisted mess.

Eating out. We like to eat out. with just the two of us, its something we just enjoy..having a good meal out somewhere in a pleasant environment. Well, thats also getting harder to find. If you look at most menu’s now, its a big deal to eat out. you can expect to drop close to 40 bucks for a meal for 2 and an AVERAGE priced restaurant. I believe they think that if they offer you a massive QUANTITY of mediocre food you will overlook the QUALITY> What I see in most places is heavily sauced, heavily salted, and covered in cheese. I also encounter loud music too distracting to hear my husband, or the current trend of having TV’s mounted everywhere. If I wanted to watch tv while I ate, I ‘d do it at home.

consumer goods: the incredible shrinking package. Who hasn’t noticed this? the only thing not shrinking is the cost of the package and my bills. We’d all like more for less but what we really get is less for more.

We run a small home based business. We sell a skin care product that we are pretty proud of. I opened our most recent case of product that came from our lab and send off some to one of our best customers. She contacted us and wondered why it was half empty. ” are you changing your packaging?” she asked. Of course not. We went and looked carefully at this new case was absolutely horrified to see that most of the containers were either only partially filled and when put on the scale, did not contain the advertised amount of product. We have over a thousand bucks of inventory ( at cost) that is worthless because the QA of the lab didn’t fill the jars to its stated ( and agreed upon) size. We of course replaced all of HER inventory with proper product but I am left pretty pissed and the crap they sent us

I went to the gym last week and was looking at the medicine balls that they had on the shelf. Most were broken or split an I asked the gym manager why they looked that way…they were relatively new. He said, they get damaged when people throw the against the wall during an exercise routine. ” aren’t they supposed to be able to sustain that kind of use?” Well, yes he said, but they don’t..” More crap.

I believe that we have been slowly led to believe that poorly made, poorly constructed and poorly executed products is acceptable and the norm now. I don’t agree.But I don’t have an answer either. What is your “crap” story??

Saying goodbye to your dog is never easy and no matter how many times you have done it, the process sucks just as much. Old man decided on April Fools, to make no joke about it and said goodbye. He enjoyed his breakfast, spent the day with his buddies in the yard, and when Mr chick came home from work, he slowly lumbered into the house and laid down…and made it clear it was enough.

A heart can only last so long, especially when its so tired and inefficient. Mr Chick took him to the same caring loving vet that had performed the miracle spleen surgery on him a few years ago. He remembered him immediately…called him a miracle dog. I made it after work just in time to hold the boy and say goodbye.

The hardest thing I have to do in my current existence is say goodbye to a dog. It causes my heart to break into hundred pieces and I can feel the cracking starting already. I have old dogs. I have written about my favorite girl who died from Hepatocutaneous syndrome 2 years ago. It still aches my heart to know she was too young when she died and there wasn’t anything I could do.

My current pack is 3. Love them all for each of their own special characteristics. I have a blind dog that I took in as a “temporary” foster…2 years ago. He was tied to a pole outside and left to sleep in a barrel. I took in an old dog, nearly deaf as a “temporary” foster 4 years ago. He was dumped at a kill shelter when his owner died. They are mine now 🙂 Seems Temporary has a new definition in the Pharmacy Chick household. My third dog I raised from a pup. She will be 13 later this year, and she is my little old lady. 2 boys and a girl and something tells me that my trio will be a duo or even a single before years end. My ” old man” as I call him is of unknown age. When he arrived 4 years ago, we were told he was already 12 or 13. That was obviously wrong because my breed of dog barely makes it to 13 let along 17 which he might be now. By his appearance ill guess he is about 13 NOW. He had a massive tumor removed from his spleen shortly after we got him.He has suffered from a chronic cough from the day we took him in.

Old Man is going to the vet tomorrow again, hopefully not for the last time. He has been on my mind and heart a lot lately. He has a myriad of health issues that seemingly defy diagnoses. But I think we have one…Idiopathic Laryngeal paralysis. He fits all the criteria and he also has a highly significant heart murmur that impedes his blood flow. His back legs have atrophied from possible progressive nerve damage and he exhausts himself from the coughing that comes from both the ILP and the murmur. Poor thing, the only time he is at rest is when he sleeps, which is alway in short bursts and for too short of time. WE have had to sleep with ear plugs in not to be awakened 15 times a night from the coughing. Its tough for us to watch but tougher on him too endure I suppose. He could have surgery ..again, but his advanced age makes it a challenge for anesthesia. He struggles up and down stairs some days and other days he does well. The last two days have been hellish on the Old Man.

My Disclaimer

This is a BLOG, written for entertainment purposes only. It is not a website for medical advice or drug information. I am a pharmacist, but I am not YOUR pharmacist. This site should never be used as a substitute for medical care. I do not have your medical history. If you ask Pharmacy Chick a question she will answer it at her convenience. I will not deliberately mislead you or give you wrong information, but I will probably not do exhaustive research either to verify its accuracy. If in doubt, please re-read the first two sentences of this paragraph.
I will never use anybody's actual name. If I use a name, it will be completly ficticious. I may likely have changed the gender of my subject as well. These events may have happened today or 1 year or more ago. If it sounds similar to you or somebody you know, its not. This stuff repeats itself a thousand times a day in pharmacies all over the world. I may even change some of the story to make a point.
If you like what I say, comment on it. I preview every comment before it is posted. I will not post any comment that is overtly rude, profane or remotely sniffs of commercial offering or spam. Do not ask me to endorse a particular product. I do not accept any kind of advertising.
So, there ya go! Happy Reading